Safe Workplace and Safety News

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently noted that falls in the transportation industry are covered under the American National Standard Institute (ANSI)/ASSE Z359 Fall Protection standards, including rolling stock, which refers to all vehicles, such as trailers, that move on a railway. The response is due to a recent request from a safety product manufacturer for interpretation of rolling stock as it applies to the Z359.0-2009 and ANSI/ASSE Z359.2-2007 Fall Protection standards.

The Z359 Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) stated that an interpretation was not necessary, as the committee agreed that the scope of the Z359 ASC and its projects and standards have always included rolling stock and therefore it is not exempt from the standard. The question of whether Z359.0 and Z359.2 apply to rolling stock was asked due to a proposal that the Z359 Committee develop a standard addressing fall protection specific to rolling stock. However, the committee notes that the transportation industry as a whole has also always been covered under the standards, and is not exempt.

Transportation-related incidents continue to be the number one cause of on-the-job-deaths; and according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2008, the number of fatal work injuries in rail transportation increased. The Z359 ASC is concerned with falls from heights in the transportation industry including stationary vehicles, equipment, and railroad cars. Transportation professionals can turn to the current standards for guidance regarding fall protection.

ASSE serves as the secretariat for the Z359 Fall Protection standards, or Fall Protection Code. The ASSE Fall Protection Code currently includes nine standards: Z359.0-2009 “Definitions and Nomenclature Used for Fall Protection and Fall Arrest;” Z359.1-2007 “Safety Requirements for Personal Fall Arrest Systems, Subsystems and Components;” Z359.2-2007 “Minimum Requirements for a Comprehensive Managed Fall Protection Program;” Z359.3-2007 “Safety Requirements for Positioning and Travel Restraint Systems;” Z359.4-2007 “Safety Requirements for Assisted-Rescue and Self-Rescue Systems, Subsystems and Components;” Z359.6-2009 “Specification and Design Requirements for Active Fall Protection Systems;” Z359.12-2009 “Connecting Components for Personal Fall Arrest Systems;” Z359.13-2009 “Personal Energy Absorbers and Energy Absorbing Lanyards” as well as the historical ANSI/ASSE Z359.1-1992 (R1999).

For more information on the Z359 Fall Protection Code, version 2.0, visit https://www.asse.org/cartpage.php?link=z359-v2. For more information on the rolling stock issue, go to ASSE Transportation Practice Specialty’s interactive online TransActions newsletter at http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/5c406127#/5c406127/1 and turn to page 27.

Labels: ASSE, fall protection, Transportation Safety

C. Christopher Patton, President of ASSE has written to Lynn C. Woolsey,Chairwoman of the congressional Subcommittee on Workforce ProtectionsCommittee on Education and Labor urging inclusion of public sector OSH coverage provisions in the Protecting America’s Workers Act. Here is the letter:

Dear Representative Woolsey:

On May 24, 2007, Jon Turnipseed, a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and at that time a Safety Program Manager for a California municipality, testified at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections to express ASSE’s support for providing all of this nation’s state and municipal workers with federal occupational safety and health (OSH) protections. ASSE’s statement that day, with extensive support for our position, can be found at http://www.asse.org/professionalaffairs_new/communications/federal/archive/files/052407HouseTestFinal.doc. You were present at that hearing and also

voiced support for protecting the more than 8 million public sector workers who are not guaranteed this level of protection because the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) only requires such coverage in states with their own occupational safety and health plans.

Now, because of your unwavering support for advancing safety and health for workers, you are in a pivotal position to help achieve full public sector coverage by advancing the current version of your bill, HR 2067, the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA). ASSE, however, is troubled to learn through the trade press and discussions in the occupational safety and health community that the provision to achieve this coverage may be dropped in a redrafted PAWA now under consideration. If this is true, ASSE strongly urges you not to turn your back on the workers who deserve this coverage and make sure that Section 101 of the current bill remains in any new version of PAWA that goes forward.

Achieving OSH coverage for public sector workers long has been a key ASSE goal. ASSE’s current efforts to advance the issue were spurred on by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board’s (CSB) investigation of the 2006 Daytona Beach municipal water treatment facility that took the lives of two workers. As you know, CSB found Florida’s lack of OSH coverage for its public sector workers contributed to those deaths, an unprecedented finding by the CSB. In response, our members in Florida led ASSE to provide the resources needed to help pass legislation establishing a task force charged with determining how to best protect Florida’s workers. Again ASSE led the effort this year to pass the task force recommendations into law. A bill that simply would have required the state’s public sector employers to meet federal OSH Act standards – without any enforcement provisions or resources to support the requirement – passed the Florida House but was not heard in the Senate because of the Legislature’s attention to the state’s budget problems. Achieving full enforcement of federal OSH standards in Florida could take years of continued effort, with no guarantee for success.

We can tell you from our members’ experience in this one state that going from state to state to the 25 states that still do not require federal-level protections would be an effort beyond the resources of any stakeholders like ASSE. We understand the difficulties this measure faces in Congress, but that level of difficulty would be multiplied 25 times if the effort had to be repeated from state to state. The reality is that the only effective way full public sector worker OSH coverage will be achieved any time soon is through your leadership right now at this unique time in history when Congress is in a position to consider reforms to the OSH Act.

Thank you for your attention to our concern. ASSE and our members stand ready to help you achieve our shared goal. We strongly urge inclusion of Section 101 providing OSH coverage for public sector workers in any new version of PAWA that goes forward. Public sector workers are depending on your unwavering commitment to their safety and health.

Sincerely,
C. Christopher Patton, CSP
President

Labels: ASSE

A new online free interactive game from American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) features high quality graphics, sound, and everything you'd expect in a quality game... and it promotes a safe workplace.

Slippery floors, hot cooking equipment, heavy lifting, loud noises and working alone are some of the dangers teens face as they take that first job or seasonal employment. These dangers can lead to fatalities and serious injury if workers are not aware of them and how to protect themselves against being injured on the job. To help teens stay safe at work, ASSE has launched an interactive online computer game called “Don’t be a Zombie at Work” and to illustrate how occupational safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals are key to staying safe.

Located at http://www.dontbeazombieatwork.org, the new ASSE game is free and features the imaginary evil “BodgeDab” industries. Players find themselves helping their co-workers avoid becoming a “zombie” by finding tools and information from embedded SH&E professionals to stay safe on the job. The game involves a mysterious corporation that has just moved into a large city, led by reputed evil boss Damballa Bokor, and opening businesses all over town. At the same time, the people working at these establishments are becoming “unnatural” -- zombie like. And the “virus” is quickly spreading among all workers. The player’s job is to move through these establishments - a restaurant (Club BodgeDab), a warehouse and an office to save the workers by undoing the workplace hazards. This will save the zombiefied employees and create a safe work environment. If done successfully, the player moves to the final challenge - BodgeDab headquarters and a showdown with Damballa Bokor.

Throughout the game Elle, an ASSE member and SH&E professional, is working undercover to help stop BodgeDab industries and inform the player of the dangerous and underlying dangers of BodgeDab industries. Just a call away, Elle and a team of safety professionals provide the player with clues on how to prevent workplace hazards, save the zombies and stop the dreaded BodgeDab industries.

In addition to Elle and the safety professionals, the player has several tools that can be moved to a tool box/inventory to fix the hazardous situations in each level. Instructions are provided throughout the game as are quizzes.

The “Don’t be a Zombie at Work” game, developed by ASSE members, is another tool ASSE has created and made available to its members and the public in an effort to prevent workplace injuries and fatalities. The other free young worker tools include the “Be Safe At Work: Tips for Teens” book mark and the brochures titled “Important Workplace Safety Guide for Young Workers” and “Preventing Roadway Crashes” available by contacting ASSE at customerservice@asse.org , by calling 847-699-2929 or downloading them from www.asse.org/newsroom in the press kit.

In 2007 a total of 117 teens under the age of 18 died from work-related injuries and another 77,000 teen workers were hurt badly enough to end up in hospital emergency rooms. Nationally, about 230,000 teens suffer work-related injuries, with most of those injuries occurring in the retail or service industries, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Overall, close to 6,000 workers die from on-the-job injuries and 4.4 million more suffer from injuries and illnesses in the U.S. alone.

Related Past Posts:
Video Game Teaches Forklift Safety

Labels: ASSE, Free Safety Guides, Safety Training

As slips, trips and falls continue to represent significant exposures and hazards in the workplace, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently announced the approval of three new fall protection standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), aimed at preventing these hazards in the workplace. The three standards are:

• ANSI/ASSE Z359.6-2009 - Specification and Design Requirements for Active Fall Protection Systems


• ANSI/ASSE Z359.12-2009 - Connecting Components for Personal Fall Arrest Systems


• ANSI/ASSE Z359.13-2009 - Personal Energy Absorbers and Energy Absorbing Lanyards

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), out of the 5,657 fatal on-the-job injuries that occurred in 2007, 847 were attributed to falls. Aimed at preventing injuries and death due to falls, the ANSI/ASSE Z359.6-2009, approved by ANSI on June 3, 2009, specifies requirements for the design and performance of complete active fall-protection systems, including travel-restraint and vertical horizontal fall-arrest systems. Also approved on June 3, 2009, the ANSI/ASSE Z359.12-2009 standard establishes requirements for the performance, design, marking, qualification, test methods and removal from service connectors.

The intention of the ANSI/ASSE Z359.13-2009 standard, approved by ANSI on June 23, 2009, is to require all energy absorbing lanyards and personal energy absorbers to reduce the forces implied on the user to less than 10 times the normal gravitational pull of the earth. In addition, users of energy absorbing lanyards must weigh within the range of 130 to 310 lbs.

"I applaud the ASSE and the devoted group of professionals on the ANSI Z359 Accredited Standards Committee for their dedication to the development of these ground-breaking standards" said the ANSI/ASSE Z359 Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) Chair and President and CEO of Gravitec Systems Inc. Randall Wingfield. "Because falls from heights make up a significant portion of workplace fatalities and injuries, the creation of authoritative documents for workers at height and their employers is essential."

"Years in the making, Z359.12 and Z359.13 expand on existing standards in which connecting devices and personal energy absorbers were initially addressed," Wingfield added. "Standards devoted solely to these components were necessary because new research and testing have provided us with a better understanding of how these products are used. The new Z359.6 standard tackles fall protection systems design for the first time and is intended for engineers with expertise in this area. The release of these standards marks considerable progress toward the completion of the Z359 Fall Protection Code, a living document that will continue to grow as ten additional standards are drafted and adopted."

The three new standards will be available soon and will become part of the ASSE Fall Protection Code with an effective date of November 16, 2009. The ASSE Fall Protection Code currently includes six standards:

• Z359.0-2007 -Definitions and Nomenclature Used for Fall Protection and Fall Arrest
  
  
• Z359.1-2007 - Safety Requirements for Personal Fall Arrest Systems, Subsystems and Components


• Z359.2-2007 - Minimum Requirements for a Comprehensive Managed Fall Protection Program


• Z359.3-2007 - Safety Requirements for Positioning and Travel Restraint Systems


• Z359.4-2007 - Safety Requirements for Assisted-Rescue and Self-Rescue Systems, Subsystems and Components

...as well as the historical ANSI/ASSE Z359.1-1992 (R1999).

The ANSI/ASSE Z359 ASC for Fall Arrest/Protection is also working on 10 additional Z359 standards projects aimed at protecting workers from falls.

Related Past Posts
New Fact Sheet On Fall Protection
Must Workers Ask For Protection
Fall And Cave-In Hazards Lead To Fine

Labels: ANSI, ASSE, fall protection

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently announced the approval and availability of the newly revised American National Standard ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2009 "Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training." The standard calls for qualified training to ensure that workers and safety, health, and environmental professionals have the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to protect themselves and others in the workplace.

Approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on April 21, the ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2009 standard applies a broad range of training and training programs in order to specify how to adequately design, develop, deliver and evaluate training.

"The Z490 was written to provide a guide for the development and presentation of comprehensive HSE training events," said Z490 Committee Vice-Chair Frank Perry, P.E., CSP. "As health, safety and environmental professionals, we have all had the opportunity to conduct compliance training at one time or another. Occasionally we were less than satisfied with either our presentation or with the organization of the training materials. The Z490 is the perfect guide to develop, present and evaluate each training event. If one is using a third-party trainer, the Z490 can be used as a yardstick to ensure that you are truly getting what your organization requires and what you are paying for."

The standard covers all areas of training, including training development, delivery, evaluation and management of training and training programs. Criteria within the standard were developed by combining accepted practices in the training industry along with those in the safety, health and environmental profession.

The standard has many uses including: for use by employers to assess the services of outside training providers or to audit or improve their own training programs; for training providers to assess and improve their training services; and to be used as a basis for development and management of training and training programs. The standard has annexes and references that provide additional information and detail. It is available in print and electronic format by contacting ASSE customer service at 847-699-2929 or customerservice@asse.org.

Labels: ASSE, Safety Training

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) expressed a variety of concerns focused on the failure to reference widely accepted national voluntary consensus standards addressing crane safety in the proposed updated federal ‘Cranes and Derricks in Construction Rule’ in testimony by ASSE professional member Matt Burkart, a crane safety expert from Southampton, PA, who is a member of the A10 Safety Requirements for Construction and Demolition Operations Standards standard committee and chairman of the ASCE Construction Site Safety Committee at a public hearing held this week at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

The concerns reflect comments ASSE submitted in January to Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Acting Assistant Secretary Thomas M. Stohler for the record of the cranes and derricks rulemaking. In its comments, ASSE requested a hearing be held to discuss its concern that OSHA failed to reference the A10 or other national voluntary consensus standards addressing crane and derrick safety.

In ASSE’s January comments, ASSE President Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM, of Fairborn, OH, noted ASSE represents 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals who work with employers to protect workers and employers’ property from safety, health and environmental risks.

"Our members are experts in managing workplace safety and health issues in every industry, in every state and across the globe. They belong to sixteen ASSE practice specialties," Brown said. "In fact, ASSE’s Construction Practice Specialty is ASSE’s largest practice specialty. ASSE is also the Secretariat for various ANSI voluntary consensus standards related to safe practices in construction, including the A10 Safety Requirements for Construction and Demolition Operations, the Z359 Fall Protection Code, and Z490.1-2001Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health and Environmental Training. The safe operation cranes and derricks on construction sites is of the utmost importance to ASSE’s members."

In his testimony, Burkart brought attention to OSHA’s failure to fulfill its duty under law to consider voluntary consensus standards in rulemaking.

"We cannot help but come to that conclusion when the Proposed Rule fails to reference even once the ASC A10 standard Safety Requirements for Construction and Demolition Operations. The ASC A10 Committee for Construction and Demolition Operations is one of the oldest ANSI committees, chartered in 1931 and enjoying 78 years of continuous leadership in developing construction safety standards," Burkart said. "The inability of OSHA to identify a key set of standards impacting crane safety is a significant failure by OSHA to perform meaningful background research and indicates the Agency failed to comply fully with Public Law 104-113."

Public Law 104-113, the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1965, requires all federal agencies to "use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies, using such technical standards as a means to carry out policy objectives or activities determined by the agencies and departments."

"ASSE’s members have had extensive and successful experience in helping develop occupational safety and health standards through consensus building in the ANSI voluntary standards development process, including national standards impacting the safe operation of cranes and derricks," Burkart explained. "We already work successfully in managing crane safety through these voluntary consensus standards. Therefore, we need clarity and consistency between the existing voluntary standard and a final OSHA standard."

In his testimony, Burkhart also stated ASSE's support for OSHA's general approach to helping ensure that crane operators are qualified or certified to operate the equipment covered here. Burkart went on to say, however, "We urge OSHA to rewrite the proposed provisions to require that operator certifications be accredited by the same nationally recognized accrediting agencies that accredit organizations certifying the professional competence of safety and health professionals. Without this level of rigor, ASSE fears that unknown entities with little experience in professional certification will be able to establish certifications that do not adequately demonstrate professional crane operator competence and put at risk the advances in crane safety we all want."

Burkart also urged OSHA to look closely at the negotiated rulemaking process used to develop this proposed rule to see if lessons can be learned to help improve the negotiated rulemaking process as a tool for engaging the entire safety and health community in OSHA’s rulemaking.

"While no approach to standards setting can be without challenges, negotiated rulemaking best mirrors the success of the voluntary consensus process and holds promise for some of the more difficult occupational safety and health issues," Burkart said on behalf of ASSE.

Other areas of the proposed rule that concern ASSE include hoisting and rigging; confusing equipment definitions such as for fall protection, competent person and ground conditions; concern that OSHA did not reference the national voluntary consensus standard with regard to use of different derricks; selection of manufacturer or employer procedures for assembly/disassembly and general requirements; power line safety; inspections; wire rope inspections; general requirements for signals; overall fall protection; work area control; operator qualification and certification; training; hoisting personnel; multiple-crane/derrick lifts; design, construction and testing; and, overhead and gantry cranes.

The current OSHA safety standard for cranes and derricks was written in 1971. In July 2004, a 23-member industry and union OSHA advisory committee issued a recommendation that OSHA update its outdated standards on crane and derrick safety and proposed a revised standard, including specific rules on crane assembly.

Our previous posts on crane safety include:
OSHA Launches National Initiative On Cranes And Derricks
Tower Crane Safety
OSHA To Issue Proposed Cranes and Derricks Construction Standard
Unqualified Hardhats Feared As Fake Crane-Safety Papers Found

Labels: ASSE, Construction Safety, OSHA, safety regulations

In discussing occupational safety, health and the environment (SH&E) issues with the new administration’s transition team, American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) officials reviewed its key concerns and suggestions for the U.S. Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Leadership, standards, risk-based safety and health management approaches, global harmonization rulemaking, third party consultation, ergonomics, workplace transportation fatalities, strengthening support for state OSHA programs, cooperation with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and continued support for cooperative programs like the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) and OSHA alliances with businesses which advance employer understanding of the positive impact of SH&E on an employer’s bottom line were discussed.

As for leadership, ASSE notes federal safety and health agencies should be led by safety, health and environmental professionals who have the leadership capabilities to build relationships across the spectrum of occupational safety and health (OSH) stakeholders. ASSE also noted the following:

- Standards -- An examination of how OSHA standards are pursued must be undertaken. OSHA should lead efforts to develop cooperative mechanisms to help counter the division that has limited OSHA’s ability to update standards and permissible exposure limits (PELs).

- Advance risk-based safety and health management approaches -- OSHA should encourage employers to take proactive responsibility for safety and health through risk-based regulatory approaches and compliance assistance resources. Europe, Japan, China and committed U.S. employers already use such approaches. OSHA is falling behind the world in not incorporating risk-based safety and health management approaches.

- OSHA can help U.S. companies save jobs. Rulemaking on global harmonization of US hazard communications (GHS) will help U.S. employers compete across the globe and should be completed. An engaged OSHA can help ensure OSH issues are addressed fully in US trade agreements.

- Continue to support cooperative programs like VPP and the OSHA alliances, which continue to advance employer understanding that safe workplaces save lives and positively impact an employer’s bottom line.

- Third party consultation -- ASSE supports extending OSHA effectiveness by establishing a program to allow third party safety audits of companies under strict requirements to ensure professionalism and maximize effect, thereby expanding OSHA’s reach beyond the limits of its current enforcement and cooperative programs.

- Ergonomics – If ergonomics emerges as a regulatory goal, ASSE will not be able to support a prescriptive approach. Our members’ knowledge and experience indicate that ergonomic problems are addressed through specific job and workplace fixes. Any approach to ergonomics must be risk-based, encourage cooperation, and avoid prescriptive, one-size-fits-all solutions that cannot work.

- Harmonization with voluntary consensus standards – OSHA should increase its participation level in the voluntary consensus standard community and comply fully with the Technology Transfer Act's mandate to consider consensus standards when engaged in rulemaking. Use of such standards, like ANSI/ASSE Z117 (confined space standard) and ANSI/ASSE Z490.1 (safety training), will help expedite rulemaking and keep pace with current safety practices.

- Transportation-related deaths continue to be the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the U.S. OSHA should examine its current efforts and engage employers, employees and other federal agencies to create a new emphasis on addressing this problem.

- Cooperation with NIOSH – OSHA’s relationship with NIOSH envisioned by the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act should be increased so that NIOSH’s work, including key SH&E research, can support and contribute to OSHA’s standards and other activities.

- Improve support for state programs – OSHA’s ability to support and encourage state program effectiveness must be strengthened.

Labels: ASSE, OSHA, politics

With the goal of working together to provide expertise in developing information on prevention and recognition of workplace hazards and ways of communicating this information to employers and employees, the American Society of Safety Engineers' (ASSE) Greater Baton Rouge Chapter and the OSHA Baton Rouge Area Office recently formed a formal alliance. The alliance aims to provide occupational safety, health and environmental professionals' access to additional training resources as they work to enhance employees' safety and health.

The alliance came about following a number of on-the-job deaths the OSHA Baton Rouge Area office investigated within the past three years which involved specific hazards. As such, the new alliance will target these hazards which include falls, combustible dusts, trenching/excavation, 'struck-by' object hazards associated with local petro-chemical and construction industries, and more.

The alliance training and education goals include working together to develop training and education programs for general and construction industries regarding fall hazards, combustible dust, trenching and excavation hazards, as well as struck-by object hazards and to communicate such information to employers and employees in those industries.

To raise awareness of workplace safety and health issues, another goal of the alliance, is to convene or participate in forums, round table discussions or stakeholder meetings on PPE, fall hazards, trenching/excavation, struck-by hazards, forklifts as well as community outreach to help build innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues. In the future, these events will be held locally at either OSHA's office in Baton Rouge or an ASSE chapter officer's place of business and will be posted on the ASSE Baton Rouge web site.

"Although we have long had a great working relationship with our local OSHA office, we felt that the alliance formally acknowledges our common goals and will allow us to pool our resources together to accomplish these goals--all aimed at enhancing workplace safety for all," said ASSE Greater Baton Rouge Chapter President Lance Roux, CSP. "We are excited about this milestone in our chapter’s history and look forward to working closely with our local OSHA office during the year ahead."

The two-year alliance agreement will be led by a team of representative from each organization who will meet three times per year to track and share information on activities and status of goals.

The ASSE Greater Baton Rouge (GBR) chapter's 250 members are safety leaders in local industry, small business, and public sectors. The GBR chapter provides professional development to members, safety education to the public, and safety recommendations to legislative bodies. For more information on the alliance or the GBR chapter visit http://gbr.asse.org.

Labels: ASSE, workplace fatalities

"Workplace safety processes must be in place at all times," American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) President Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHMM, of Fairborn, Ohio, said today. "hey are even more critical during business downturns."

Brown is referring to recent reports of some companies cutting safety processes hoping to reduce costs.

"If companies believe they will save money by reducing or ignoring safety for their workers, customers and communities they do business in, they are mistaken," Brown said. "The ongoing positive results are in and have been for companies that have a strong safety culture and continually invest in and implement effective safety processes. Not only does their bottom line benefit positively, but their company reputation stays intact, employees stay safe and healthy reducing health care, workers comp, training and turnover costs not to mention keeping customers, the communities they do business in, vendors and employees happy. Safety is good business."

Members of the 97-year-old ASSE -- occupational safety, health and environmental professionals located worldwide -- caution employers against cutting back on workplace safety in time of economic difficulty.

President-Elect of the ASSE South Carolina Chapter Laura Comstock said, "Some safety related purchases and testing can be deferred, but other purchases, such as those for employee personal protective equipment (PPE) like hardhats, safety glasses and respirators, are critical to operations."

It is especially important for companies to show support for their employee safety during challenging economic times, she notes. "Employee morale may be low and employees may be carrying additional workloads, such as working additional hours or doing unfamiliar tasks due to cutbacks," she notes.

Comstock added, "In order to remain viable long-term, a company must maintain a solid safety process even through difficult times. The most successful companies in the long term also have the strongest safety performance."

"We realize these are tough times, but during economic down-turns, employers seeking to cut expenses may target variable operating costs such as travel, training and safety," Brown said. "Money cut from safety processes now could have an enormous cost later; this can be from injury and health care costs, fines, lost production time, employee morale, or worst of all, employee injury or even death. There are better and smarter ways to protect the bottom line."

The South Carolina ASSE chapter suggests employees can also take measures to help companies save money such as by: following safe working procedures and practices to prevent injuries, related downtime and expenses such as costly fines; by properly using, cleaning and caring for protective equipment such as hardhats and respirators; reusing gloves whenever possible for as long as possible; and by keeping track of safety glasses and reusable hearing protection.

Investing in safety pays and contributes positively to a company’s bottom line. Businesses spend about $170 billion a year on costs associated with workplace injuries and illnesses and pay almost $1 billion every week to injured employees and their medical providers. In addition, a recent investment firm study in Australia showed valuation links between workplace safety and health factors and investment performance. It found that companies who did not adequately manage workplace safety issues underperformed those that did.

Comstock also reminds employers, "When considering training reductions, some safety related training is driven by regulation, is time sensitive and cannot be delayed. Safety training related savings can be generated by streamlining and implementing simple solutions including using online or electronic safety training services, rather than face-to-face classroom safety training."

"We need to work together during these difficult times, but reducing or ignoring workplace safety should not be a strategic or budget option," Brown said. "The costs – both tangible and intangible – are far too high and hard to recoup."

Labels: ASSE, Industrial Health, Industrial Safety, workplace safety

In discussing occupational safety, health and the environment (SH&E) issues with the new administration’s transition team, American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) officials reviewed their key concerns and suggestions for OSHA.

Leadership, standards, risk-based safety and health management approaches, global harmonization rulemaking, third party consultation, ergonomics, workplace transportation fatalities, strengthening support for state OSHA programs, cooperation with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and continued support for cooperative programs like the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) and OSHA alliances with businesses which advance employer understanding of the positive impact of SH&E on an employer’s bottom line were discussed.

As for leadership, ASSE notes federal safety and health agencies should be led by safety, health and environmental professionals who have the leadership capabilities to build relationships across the spectrum of occupational safety and health (OSH) stakeholders. ASSE also noted the following:

• Standards -- An examination of how OSHA standards are pursued must be undertaken. OSHA should lead efforts to develop cooperative mechanisms to help counter the division that has limited OSHA’s ability to update standards and permissible exposure limits (PELs).

• Advance risk-based safety and health management approaches -- OSHA should encourage employers to take proactive responsibility for safety and health through risk-based regulatory approaches and compliance assistance resources. Europe, Japan, China and committed U.S. employers already use such approaches. OSHA is falling behind the world in not incorporating risk-based safety and health management approaches.

• OSHA can help U.S. companies save jobs. Rulemaking on global harmonization of US hazard communications (GHS) will help U.S. employers compete across the globe and should be completed. An engaged OSHA can help ensure OSH issues are addressed fully in US trade agreements.

• Continue to support cooperative programs like VPP and the OSHA alliances, which continue to advance employer understanding that safe workplaces save lives and positively impact an employer’s bottom line.

• Third party consultation -- ASSE supports extending OSHA effectiveness by establishing a program to allow third party safety audits of companies under strict requirements to ensure professionalism and maximize effect, thereby expanding OSHA’s reach beyond the limits of its current enforcement and cooperative programs.

• Ergonomics – If ergonomics emerges as a regulatory goal, ASSE will not be able to support a prescriptive approach. Our members’ knowledge and experience indicate that ergonomic problems are addressed through specific job and workplace fixes. Any approach to ergonomics must be risk-based, encourage cooperation, and avoid prescriptive, one-size-fits-all solutions that cannot work.

• Harmonization with voluntary consensus standards – OSHA should increase its participation level in the voluntary consensus standard community and comply fully with the Technology Transfer Act's mandate to consider consensus standards when engaged in rulemaking. Use of such standards, like ANSI/ASSE Z117 (confined space standard) and ANSI/ASSE Z490.1 (safety training), will help expedite rulemaking and keep pace with current safety practices.

• Transportation-related deaths continue to be the leading cause of workplace fatalities in the U.S. OSHA should examine its current efforts and engage employers, employees and other federal agencies to create a new emphasis on addressing this problem.

• Cooperation with NIOSH – OSHA’s relationship with NIOSH envisioned by the 1970 Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act should be increased so that NIOSH’s work, including key SH&E research, can support and contribute to OSHA’s standards and other activities.

• Improve support for state programs – OSHA’s ability to support and encourage state program effectiveness must be strengthened.

Labels: ASSE, OSHA